By Batsirai Sango.
The 12th edition of the ICC (International Cricket Council) world cup qualifiers for the 2023 global showpiece is done and dusted with cricket lovers not disappointing bringing with them the passion and thrill and frenzy atmosphere the game needed at the host venues of the qualifiers.
The headline caption for tertiary students I am sure resonates with the final year, where one embarks on a mandatory academic project a culmination of everything academic that one would have studied from the first semester of first year.
The recently concluded ICC Cricket world cup qualifiers for the 2023 cricket world cup can be likened to such judging from how Zimbabwe Cricket got the nod from the world cricket governing body the ICC (International Cricket Council) to host the qualifiers a sheer reflection of the approval and confidence of ZC’s administration of the game by the ICC.
It was an unforgettable experience for many Cricket loving fans especially with the Chevrons the Zimbabwe cricket national team giving the suspense and anxiety moments team sports bring to the fans, though eventually falling at the final hurdle in winner takes all match against Scotland.
Some may question the relevance of the article considering the Chevrons’ quest for a spot at the world cup ended in heartache a show also reflective of everything worrisome with our team sports at the national level however it is paramount for all progressive sport fanatics to take time and interrogate both the positives and negatives from the just ended extravaganza.
Who can forget how the Chevrons stunned powerhouses in the West Indies boasting of Rovman Powell their skipper who is good enough to play in the world’s most followed cricket league the Indian Premier league, with Sikandar Razar shinning in that stunner for the Chevrons taking them to the Super 6.
Its saddening though how things are unfolding across the other sporting end football that is with the national football team banned from taking part in international games with the suspension of the local football governing body by the central government.
Its saddening in that it has robbed and taken away from the football fans those priceless moments as the ones mentioned prior.
With all the positives from this Cricket showpiece its good enough example for football and its local governing authorities to look themselves in the mirror and see where it is they are getting it wrong and how they can copy and can attract the confidence of supreme governing authorities.
The sheer crowd sizes were testament to the thirsty and hunger sport fanatics have been enduring with their nation especially on the football scene not taking part in international matches a result of the FIFA ban following government’s involvement in the local game with the suspension of the ZIFA board.
The Harare sports club in the capital Harare or the Queens sports club in the city of Kings and Queens Bulawayo the crowd sizes were simply a marvel bringing the kind of atmosphere only unique to the world’s most beautiful game “football” as the late King of football Pele called it.
Football and the administration of it has been a heartache for many soccer loving fans especially in the aftermath of prementioned scenario that is the banning of the national football team from all international matches with the government pocking its nose in the affairs of the domestic game.
And to think all of that is taking place with the ministry being led by the country’s most decorated Olympian in Kirsty Coventry boggles the mind how the sport has been in the lowest doldrums since the turn of independence in 1980. Not to say that the honorable Sports Minister is culpable no but it’s simply a culmination of the culture of unaccountability and abuse of public office across the national sports fraternity in particular football.
Who can forget how one Dr Cuthbert Dube ran the domestic game as if it was his personal property to the extent of even floating the threat of FIFA suspension if government dared to get involved in the maladministration that was and has continued to bedevil the football mother body. As if that was not enough here is someone who previously was at the helm of the leading medical aid facility in the country the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) when the salary gate scandal emerged in 2013-2014.
Now imagine such a compromised character, individual in charge of the nation’s most loved sport with such a charred history.
Zimbabwe football once got the rights to host the first Africa Cup of Nations at the turn of the new century in 2000 and with time winding down with no proper, sound activation of the hosting rights plan, the rights were taken away by Caf (Confederation of African Football) the continent’s football governing body.
Fast forward between 2007 and 2010 Zimbabwe football was involved in what came to be known as the “ASIAGATE” scandal where the national team was involved in match-fixing scams in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia. As if that was not enough to destroy the questionable confidence supreme governing authorities already had in the local game now you have the suspension by the world governing body FIFA because of government’s involvement in the game.
And it is winning back that confidence from critical stakeholders of the game at regional level with COSAFA, continental level with Caf and at the global stage with FIFA that is going to bring what we witnessed at the ICC 2023 Cricket world cup qualifiers.
The atmosphere was simply spectacular something that football stakeholders ought to learn from in order to bring back as many fans as possible back to the terraces under a conducive and safe atmosphere. And in all fairness ZC have to be commended in how they convinced the ICC for the qualifiers to be hosted in the country, and it also serves as a lesson for the future as we look forward to host many more sporting events of that kind.
The venues for the qualifiers conducive as they were but the number of fans that wanted to cheer on their national team was more than the infrastructure available could take, and stakeholders in the football circles ought to learn from this and invest in the upgrade, maintenance of such infrastructure that can accommodate as many fans as possible.
It is disheartening that to this day July 2023 you still have concrete terrace seats across all football venues in the country a clear indication of how we have not moved with the times and none of those venues are fit enough to host continental club football games.
Let the experience from the hosting of the ICC World cup qualifiers then, be what the headline of the article has articulated and like what rap star Kanye West said in one of his songs “Goodmorning” never mind the swearing part “this is my dissertation homie this …t is basic welcome to graduation, good morning”.
And graduation is what we endeavor for the nation’s most loved sport the recently hosted ICC world cup qualifiers is one such dissertation football authorities can take recommendations and lessons from, if the country is to host such an event in as far as football is concerned.
